In October 1880, LDS Church president John Taylor called Smith to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

On October 27 of that year, he was ordained an apostle by Wilford Woodruff, who at that time was the quorum president.

Smith was unanimously elected by the 107 delegates to be the Chair of the Utah Constitutional Convention that was held between March 4 and May 8, 1895.

He came west to Utah in a company co-led by his father in 1849, arriving in Salt Lake City on October 27, 1849.

One of his sons was George Albert Smith, who became an LDS apostle and served as the church's 8th president.